With the Boston Celtics recently crowned NBA champions, the 2024 NBA offseason has officially begun. And things are about to get hot fast. The next two weeks of the league are sure to be wild. The first round of the 2024 NBA Draft will take place this Wednesday, June 26th, and the second round will take place on Thursday, June 27th. The second round will be a two-day event for the first time. On Sunday, June 30th at 3:00 PM PST, the free agent moratorium will officially begin, allowing teams to negotiate contracts with all free agents. The moratorium will end on Sunday, July 6th at 9:01 AM PST, at which point teams will be able to finalize and announce contracts.
It's shaping up to be a busy time for the Golden State Warriors with a lot of decisions being made in a lot of directions. And the next question? Options. It was already reported earlier this week that guard Gary Payton II would pick up his $9.1 million player option for next season, but the Warriors have two significant team options available.
On Monday, the Warriors must decide whether to take on center Kevon Looney's contract. If the Warriors take on Looney's contract, he'll return for $8 million. If they don't, the Warriors will have to pay him a $3 million buyout and he'll become a free agent.
Then comes Friday, June 28, when Chris Paul's contract expires. CP3's deal is pretty straightforward: The Warriors can either extend the Hall of Famer's contract for another year and pay him $30 million, or pay him nothing and let him go as a free agent.
It's no secret that Golden State is looking for ways to save money this offseason, so if I were to bet, I'd say it's likely that neither contract will be taken on. But it's worth noting that the opt-out date is negotiable. The Warriors and Paul could agree to extend the option expiration date, giving them more time to plan their offseason and see if they can cut money by trading Andrew Wiggins or losing Klay Thompson. The two sides could also agree to renegotiate another mutually beneficial contract, such as changing a one-year, $30 million contract into a two-year, $40 million deal.
Fasten your seatbelts, Dub Nation, because things are about to get interesting.
